Belinda needed a supportive chair that would allow her to sit and eat comfortably at the family table.

Until now, Belinda’s widowed mother either sat her 9 y.o. daughter on her lap during meal times, or held her from the side to keep her balanced on the dining chair while feeding her at the same time… we thought they both deserved better than that and the perfect solution was a Rifton Activity Chair .

It took a little longer to raise the $4,300 needed than we’d hoped, but 7 weeks after launching her appeal we’ve finally done it!

Many thanks to everyone who gave their buck along the way!

In October 2011 we launched Maddy’s Car Appeal to help raise the almost $30,000 needed to modify the family car to be wheelchair accessible for Maddy.  With the help of the members of this wonderful I Give A Buck Community and the amazing team at Melbourne’s Gold 104 radio station, the funds were raised and the car was off to NSW for its modifications!

Recently, we received an update from Maddy’s family and a few photos too and we’d like to share that with you all…

Hi Barb & Liat

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!

Some great news for you both, we finally have our car back and Maddy can now be driven around comfortably and safely in her wheelchair.

It took quite some time to do, twice as long as they originally told us (12 weeks instead of 6!) but its all over and done with.

Maddy seems quite impressed with her new seating position and it is a dream come true for me as I can now take her out and not worry about how my back is going to be feeling at the end of the day.

The transition time getting her in and out of the car is remarkably fast as well, I can’t believe how little time is needed to dock the wheelchair, put her brakes and seat belt on and then away we go.

No more lifting her in and out of the wheelchair and squeezing her into that horrid car seat, those days are now behind us. YEAH!

Our many heartfelt thanks goes out to all the loyal staff at IGAB and to all those kind and generous people who donated to Maddy’s appeal; on behalf of our entire family we say thank you once again!

Without the immense support that Maddy received from the public this would not have ever been possible.

Adrian and I feel an overwhelming sense of relief that this major hurdle has been overcome and we would like to pass on our sincerest gratitude to all those who contributed.

THANK YOU EVERYONE!

All the very best,

Traci, Adrian, Madison and Josh.

If you were one of the special people that made this family’s dream come true, take a bow! And, if you weren’t part of our community back then but would like to share in the love, hop on over to make the same dream come true by giving a buck to Harry and to Zac.

Great work again people!

Barb Blashki – Founder

Whoever said you can’t buy happiness evidently forgot about puppies…

…and 10 y.o. Levi from Brunswick, VIC deserves every happiness the world can give him.

You see Levi has Angelman’s Syndrome, a genetic condition made up of a number of features which occur together as a group. In Levi’s case it is characterized by physical mobility issues, a severe intellectual disability, epilepsy and an inability to talk.

In addition, Levi has a severe anaphylactic allergy which has threatened his life on several occasions.

When we met Levi in January 2012 he was unfortunately very isolated due to his disability and found it hard to engage in age appropriate activities and make friends. He was a happy little boy, loved other children and all animals. His family desperately wanted to give Levi the chance to have a close relationship of his own, and enjoy the unconditional love from a puppy. A puppy that would grow with Levi and bring another level of joy and companionship to his life.

A specially trained therapy dog would provide not only great friendship and company for Levi, but would also help in certain tasks for Levi (like picking up dropped items, participating in his therapy sessions, and alerting the family when Levi is in danger).

A specially raised and trained therapy dog for Levi would cost approximately $3,000, and so that’s the target we set for his Appeal – which was finished in just 2 weeks!

The next step in the process is for Dogs for Kids with Disabilities to find the right dog for Levi and to train it specifically for him and his needs. The wonderful Katie Hunter from Dogs for Kids with disabilities will keep us posted and we’re looking forward to bringing you updates as things progress.

You’d think 15 operations would be too much for anyone, but at 9 years of age, when we met Bailey in December 2011 he was about to have his 16th in January 2012.

…and this time his ankles would be cut, turned and bolted and his tendons cut.

9 year old Bailey from the Melbourne suburb of Berwick is one gutsy little dude. Coming into the world with a rush 8 weeks before he was due, he was later diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy Spastic Diplegia – which for Bailey means uncomfortably stiff and contracted muscles that he has had to contend with each and every day of his life.

In addition, Bailey was born with his two outer fingers missing on his right hand and his thumb and index finger fused together and unbendable.

Bailey has come through some huge challenges. He’s now had 15 operations on his legs, hands, eyes, and bladder, and has had several Botox injections into his muscles to temporarily relieve them from tightening, increase his flexibility and reduce his pain.

It’s imperative that Bailey remains as active as possible, especially after this next operation – otherwise as he gets older permanent tightness of his joints may develop.

At the moment, Bailey sits and watches the kids play on their bikes outside – his little sister Jazz can join in, but Bailey has very poor balance and needs a three wheeler trike. His therapist believes riding is not only one of the best physical therapies for Bailey, but one of the best social ones too. It would allow him to be included with his friends. As his mum Michelle says “the trike would be his legs, his freedom”.

Bailey’s trike cost $804 and we were able to raise that amount in just a few days! His trike was delivered in time for Christams – have fun Bailey!

Meet cute little 4 y.o. Piper from Kalorama VIC.  With her identical twin sister Ruby, you could be looking in a mirror.  Quite literally in fact as the girls are “mirror image” twins (Piper is right handed – Ruby left, Piper has amblyopia in her right eye – Ruby has it in her right.  It’s even the same for their personalities and likes & dislikes!)

The biggest difference between them though is that at 2 years of age Piper was diagnosed with cerebral palsy – spastic diplegia.

It’s very hard for Piper to be mobile – she uses AFOs (ankle foot orthotics) and a special Walker to get around, but tires easily and has lots of ‘spectacular but graceful falls!’ according to her mum Stef.

When we met Piper in Dec 2011, over the past year, Piper had become increasingly aware that she was less mobile than her peers. This was especially true when she saw her sister and cousins whizzing around on their bikes.

Then Piper’s world was turned upside down when she was given the opportunity to try a specially adapted bike.  She had so much fun she couldn’t stop smiling and didn’t want to get off.  Mum Stef said she’d been talking ever since about how clever she was to ride ‘all on her own’!

Her physio recommended that this type of bike would be of significant benefit to Piper’s ongoing physical health (not to mention the wonderful joy it would bring!), as would a Second Skin / lateral body splint suit – which would greatly support her core stability and have a significant impact on her ability to access both her home and kinder environments – enabling her to participate in a greater range of play experiences.

Piper’s Appeal raised the $3,491 needed to fund her special bike and Second Skin suit in just 15 days. Go Piper!

Meet Amy.  Amy has what is thought to be a very rare genetic condition – so rare that doctors have so far been unable to give a 100% diagnosis.

What they do know is that Amy has a type of neurological condition that affects her muscle control.  Amy can’t walk and suffers from abnormal movements and core stability problems.

In 2010, when just 18 months old, Amy’s medical team had recommended that she be fitted with a body splint – called a Second Skin Suit.  This suit would give Amy greater independence in upright positions such as standing and sitting.  She’d wear it every day, allowing her muscles to work better and get stronger.  It was hoped that it would also help to reduce Amy’s involuntary, abnormal movements.

Amy’s suit cost $1,960 and we were thrilled to be able to fund that suit for Amy thanks to the generosity of our wonderful I Give A Buck community and some grant funding from Australian Unity Foundation.

Amy’s skin suit literally changed her life.

For the first time ever she could sit unaided and could see a totally different perspective of the world around her.  It helped her posture so much that she was able to eat food without it having to be pureed first.  And she loves it!  Amy had been in danger of having to have a PEG feeding tube inserted into her tummy, so this was a fantastic bonus for her.

In August 2011 Amy’s physiotherapist suggested that an iPad would be really useful for Amy to help develop her communication skills. We were only too happy to provide Amy with an iPad through our iPads for Priority Kids Program. The touch screen functionality of the iPads are ideal for children with muscle tone issues who would never be able to use a traditional keyboard.  There are some absolutely terrific learning and development apps designed for children too. Have fun Amy!

And now, we’ve just finished another appeal for Amy and raised the $1,990 needed for Amy’s next suit. Go Amy!

We met the gorgeous 9 year old Amon, from Bayswater North in Victoria, at the end of November 2011.

Amon has cerebral palsy affecting all four limbs and he couldn’t stand or walk without support.  Amon’s CP severely affects his balance, even when sitting down and he had much difficulty in maintaining an upright position.

Amon needed a special supportive chair – a Smirthwaite Heathfield Chair – so that he could maintain a comfortable posture, which would greatly help him in using his hands for activities such as feeding himself and playing with his 7 year old sister.  These wonderful chairs are also adjustable and come with many accessories so that it could be adapted as Amon grew and his needs changed.

The cost of the chair was $2,257 and the Victorian Government’s SWEP program was contributing $500 – but this still left the family with a shortfall of $1,757

We really wanted to see Amon have his very own Heathfield Chair in time for Christmas and so we launched this appeal to help raise that $1,757.

Two days later we received a call from the International Order of Old Bastards (yes, you read that right) – they wanted to donate the entire amount needed! And so Amon’s appeal was started and finished before we even publicly launched it – lovely.

The IOOB has been active for in excess of thirty years. They have no religious, political, or other affiliations and have approximately 480 members who pay an annual subscription to belong. They come from all walks of life from judges advocates, solicitors, serving and ex policeman, businessmen, radio station marketing managers, tradesmen, and retired gentlemen etc. The sole purpose of the organisation is to provide assistance to those persons in our community who have found themselves in necessitous circumstances or at an unfair disadvantage.

We like them a lot.

And so too does Amon’s family.

P.S. – The child in this photograph is not Amon. Amon’s family asked us to use another child’s photo – which we gladly did.

We’ve just paid $2,487.70 towards the wheelchair hoist for Breanna’s car. She’ll be on the road by Friday!

7 year old Breanna was born with Lissencephaly – that same condition that Nate has – and this leaves her with some very serious health issues.

Breanna is severely physically and intellectually disabled.  She is unable to sit, walk, play, dance, sing or communicate with her family, all the things little 7 year olds should be doing. She also suffers from epilepsy, has scoliosis, hearing loss, is fed via a gastronomy tube into her tummy and requires suctioning to help protect her airways. Frequent respiratory illnesses are a major issue for Breanna – as is osteoporosis which recently caused her to suffer a fracture because her bones have never been able to weight bear.

When we met Breanna in July 2011 she was at a point in her development that required her family to make some major changes in order to keep her, and themselves, safe and healthy.

As Breanna gets older, she gets heavier and her bones become more brittle.  Lifting her by hand puts too much stress on her bones and puts her at serious risk of more fractures, and puts her mum, Shannan, at serious risk of injury too. Mum is her full-time carer and it is critical that she maintains her own health so that she can look after Breanna’s vast and complex needs.

Breanna was at an age where she had grown out of her car seat and there were no seats available that would be either big enough for her, or would offer her the sufficient postural support to enable her to breathe efficiently or comfortably. Breanna’s physiotherapist had said it was time for the family to purchase a desperately needed van that could offer wheel-in, wheel-out access for Breanna and her wheelchair.

With such a vehicle, Breanna could be safely transported to her regular hospital appointments and therapy sessions and could better access the community in general, allowing her to attend a special school and to visit family and friends.  Breanna’s family had a vehicle to use as a trade –in but there was still a large shortfall in the funds required to purchase the wheelchair van.  So we decided to help to get Breanna back on the road and Breanna’s Appeal originally sought to raise $5,000 towards the cost of the van.

Well! Within four weeks over $26,000 had come flooding into Breanna’s Appeal and a second hand van came on the market that was just perfect.  Once the owner read about Breanna’s story he even dropped the price!  We managed to buy the car for the family on August 2nd and continued raising funds to go towards the wheelchair hoist to get Breanna in and out.  Our appeals run for 6 weeks so we kept Breanna’s Appeal open until August 15th, 2011 and managed to raise $2,487.70 towards the hoist.

The generosity of this wonderful community of donors, and of Breanna’s friends, family and local community has been just staggering and everybody that contributed should feel VERY proud.  A truly wonderful thing has been achieved.

Australian children’s charity I Give A Buck Foundation of Australia Ltd assists children from disadvantaged families who also suffer from a life-threatening or life-altering illness or condition – with particular focus on terminally ill children.

Tara was born in 2005.  She seemed like the perfect baby who never cried until she was rushed to hospital at just 6 weeks old with what seemed like an ordinary case of bronchiolitis. During that evening she suffered a seizure that lasted for over 90 minutes and she has never had a seizure-free day since.

Tara’s underlying condition remained a mystery until she was diagnosed with Dysphagia and Floppy Baby Syndrome in 2006 and with Autism in 2007.  In 2009 Tara was also diagnosed with Dravet Syndrome – one of the most catastrophic forms of epilepsy. This is a very rare condition effecting only a few hundred children in Australia, and probably less that 1000 worldwide.  It is life threatening and there is a high chance that one day a seizure will take Tara from her family.  In order to do everything possible to prevent this from happening Tara has a seizure response assistance dog to be beside her particularly at night.

On an average day Tara has over 100 minor seizures and around 5 to 10 seizures that render her unconscious.

We first met Tara earlier in 2011 she was five and a half years old and still not fully toilet trained as, although she knew how to use the toilet, every major seizure resulted in an accident, meaning that the amount of nappies needed on a daily basis was similar to a new born baby.  Tara was on a costly, special thickened fluids diet and regular medication.  The costs associated with these day to day expenses added to the special equipment that she needs to support her and keep her safe during seizures have put a big strain on the family budget.

Tara’s mum is her full-time carer and her dad helps during the day after working night-shift as a baker in the country town in which they live.

Due to the severity of Tara’s seizures she often ends up unable to walk, on a good day she can walk but a bad day she cannot even support her head.

In February 2011 we were able to support the family by contributing $2,000 (via Tara’s Car Appeal) towards a full transmission rebuild on the family’s wheelchair modified Tarago which had stopped working in reverse. Without the van, Tara couldn’t access her Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy and other medical appointments.

Tara’s Appeal raised a little extra than required and we were able to put that to good use in July by buying Tara a much needed new bed that could fit her mum in it too for those nights that Tara needed someone to sleep with her.
During the time that we’ve known Tara she has sadly deteriorated and needs additional supports.  She’s using a walking frame now and really needs a special seat that will give her support through her seizures, and the rest period after each seizure, as well as for use during feeding as she is losing the ability to feed herself.

These special seats, called Gravity Chairs, are $1,895 each.  Tara could access $1,200 of funding towards the chair via her Helping Children with Autism package and this appeal sought to raise the remaining $695 – and did so in just 7 days!

What a great community!
Australian children’s charity I Give A Buck Foundation of Australia Ltd assists children from disadvantaged families who also suffer from a life-threatening or life-altering illness or condition – with particular focus on terminally ill children.

Joshua’s was an appeal like no other!

While we always run appeals that aim to raise a specific amount of money to purchase specific items for a specific child, just like Joshua’s Appeal, we usually don’t have a class full of amazing year nine students taking on responsibility for raising all those funds!

This month, in what we hope will become an ongoing schools program; the year nine students at Footscray City College ‘sponsored’ Joshua’s Appeal for us as part of their Community Action Program.

Joshua is one very cute 5-year-old boy! Suffering from a range of conditions including cerebral palsy, an intellectual disability and seizures, Joshua needs support in all areas of his daily living and relies on a wheelchair for getting around.

Although he can’t sit up on his own, he doesn’t let that stop him – he loves being on the floor where he’s figured out a way to pull himself across the room on his elbows to get to where he wants! Joshua can say a few words but mainly uses a communication book to help him in conversation with others.

He lives at home with his wonderful family: parents Tracey and Chris and older siblings Nathan and Daniel.

Joshua is very social! He loves company and greatly benefited from the time he spent in 3 and 4 year old kindergarten – making some really positive gains in relation to his interaction with other children.

It’s very important that Joshua can keep up this positive interaction with other children his own age. So in 2011, not only had Joshua started at Belmore School (a terrific school for children with disabilities), but he’d also be en enrolled to start at a mainstream school one day each week. Joshua’s parents want Joshua to have the same opportunities their other two sons have had without his disability being a barrier – and we couldn’t agree more. It was a very exciting time for the whole family.

Joshua’s Occupational Therapist had visited the school to make sure that everything was in place to make Joshua’s attendance go as smoothly as possible – and sheds recommended that Joshua have a special chair bought for him. Without it, Joshua would have to sit in his wheelchair all day and, since that won’t fit under a classroom table, he’d also have to sit on his own at a separate table. But, as with most pieces of disability equipment, the chair – called a Kelly Chair – was very expensive.

We all thought that it would be so much better for Joshua if he could sit at a classroom table with all the other kids and so, through this appeal, we hoped to raise the $1,125 needed for the Kelly Chair.

So the Year 9 Footscray City College kids set to work to see how much money they could raise in 4 weeks – with the intention that any extra funds that they raised over the required $1,125 would be donated to our general fundraising account.

The college’s Community Action Program is value driven; where respect, caring, giving, empathy and trust are integral. The project with Joshua was a perfect fit with those values – and would continue to enhance the school’s community connections. For the kids that participated it was real and engaging and a very practical way of making a difference.

It was with HUGE admiration and pride that we were able to watch the kids raise an incredible $1,961.85!  Well done to each and every one of them!